MA Latif made persona non grata by Ctg AL

For distorting the image of Bangabadhu Sheikh Mujibir Rahman, ruling party lawmaker MA Latif was declared persona non grata yesterday at a rally held in the port city's Laldighi Maydan.

Awami League Chittagong city unit President ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury made the declaration and also gave a 15-day ultimatum to arrest Latif and bring him to book.

Demanding immediate trial of Latif, Nagarik Mancha Chattragram held a rally where several thousands activists of Bangladesh Chattra League, Jubo League and other wings of the ruling party participated.

On January 30, on the occasion of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit in Chittagong, the festoons and banners with tampered image of Bangabandhu were hung in the Bandar and Patnga areas. In those pictures, the face was of Bangabandhu but the figure was not of him. Name of Latif was at the bottom of the festoons.

Latif, at a press conference on February 7, said he was kept in the dark, the designer of the festoons and banners tampered the photo of Bangabandhu.

Terming MA Latif as a plotter and a black sheep, Mohiuddin said, Latif is working in support of Pakistan and demanded exemplary punishment and cancellation of Latif's parliament membership. He also urged the government to confiscate Latif's property and stressed that Latif should be in jail. "Latif is a dishonest businessman who exercises illegal power," Mohiuddin alleged, "through vote rigging he held a post in the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry and created voters through his associates and relatives."